Detention
by Ninny Weasley
Summary: Ron plus Hermione plus Detention plus toothbrushes! equals luuurve... and a whole lotta laughs! Join our fave couple as they get into the kind of trouble only they know how this chapter featuring Hermione skipping class and a run in with Myrtle...
1. Prologue: Mugwort and 'swords'

Detention

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Prologue: In which there is mugwort and 'swords'

It was a sleepy day in mid September at the Hogwarts castle, but the sixth year Gryffindors were yet again cooped up in the dank, dark dungeons, being watched over beadily by that oily git Professor Snape as they were being tested on brewing Veritaserum, a powerful truth potion which once slipped into the pumpkin juice of an unsuspecting witch or wizard would have them spilling their most carefully guarded secrets to anyone who cared to listen.

As the test was being held under exam conditions (Professor Snape had said that this was to prepare them for the end of year exams, but most of the Gryffindors thought that it was really just an attempt to moke them suffer, and possibly an excuse to take house points from Gryffindors whose potions didn't turn out right), the students had to work on their own. Any communication between students during the lesson was not allowed, although Draco Malfoy could be seen at that very moment conversing loudly with his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, while Snape looked on and smirked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had managed to secure places right at the back of the dungeon, with Hermione in between the two boys; just on the off chance that she would be able to help them when Snape's back was turned.

It was about half way through the lesson when Hermione dropped her jar of mugwort, which fell to the ground with a clink, rolled across the floor and came to rest under Ron's desk.

"Ron, could you get that for me please?" she said quickly, without looking up.

Ron ducked under the desk and retrieved the jar, handing it back to Hermione. It was then that Professor Snape chose to look up from where he leant against the front of his desk, talking to Malfoy and the other Slytherins.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, just what do you think you are doing?" he asked, managing to raise an eyebrow at them and smirk nastily at the same time.

"I dropped my mugwort, professor," Hermione replied, "And Ron picked it up for me."

"Uhh, yeah," Ron added, apparently wanting to help, and finding no other words with which to do so.

"I thought I made it quite clear that there was to be no communicating between students this lesson." Snape stated, loudly enough for the whole class to hear.

"You did, professor, it's just that I dropped my jar, and it rolled under Ron's desk, and -" she trailed off

"And I picked it up for her." finished Ron, now that he had recovered his full vocabulary. "We weren't cheating or anything, what's the big deal?"

"Silence!" commanded Snape. "I said no communicating, and I meant it. You will both receive detention for your troubles, and fifty points for talking back, Mr. Weasley. Now get on with your potions."

"What?" yelled Ron, indignantly. "That's not fair!"

"One hundred points!" Snape shot back. "Now on with your work before I make it a hundred and fifty."

Ron made no reply to this, but settled for forcefully chopping his lacewings, whilst glaring at Snape's back. Harry and Hermione could do nothing but shake their heads, having learned years ago that it was not wise to argue with Snape, as it only made things worse.

The rest of the class passed by without incident, except for Neville's potion turning neon orange and producing smoke that when inhaled by the other students, made them go temporarily cross-eyed and start reciting Shakespeare. This was doubly unusual due to the fact that many of the students, having come  from wizarding families, had never even heard of Shakespeare, let alone learned the entire first act of Romeo and Juliet off by heart.

"Well, that was interesting." Harry commented with a grin, once they were back outside the dungeons, making their way towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"I liked the bit where Seamus and Dean started talking about their 'swords'." said Ron, as he and Harry grinned lopsidedly, remembering.

"Ron!" said Hermione, turning pink at the thought of Seamus and Dean's 'swords'.

"I still can't believe Snape gave us both detentions, though." he replied, deliberately changing the subject. "We didn't even do anything wrong."

"Since when has that stopped him?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I guess. At least we'll be doing it together." said Ron.

Hermione smiled at this, as Ron's ears turned slightly pink and he looked at his feet, realizing what he had said.

"Of course," said Hermione, reassuringly. She knew that Ron had fancied her since second year, and figured that he would realize this too – when he was good and ready. Until then, she just had to be patient, and not let her feelings for Ron interrupt her studies. "Doing things you don't want to is always easier if you have a friend to help you pass the time." she said, successfully employing her best Hermione Granger 'I'm-just-stating-the-obvious' voice.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, although he still looked a little distracted.

The trio sat down and started filling their plates in silence, having reached the Great Hall, and also each having drifted away into their own thoughts.

As they started to eat, Ginny Weasley entered the hall with a group of Gryffindor fourth years, breaking off as they headed further down the table, and coming to stand behind Harry, where he was sitting next to Ron and Hermione.

"Hey Harry, Ron, 'Mione, mind if I sit here?"

Harry jumped, almost imperceptibly, and turned around to face her.

"Sure, you can sit here next to me." he said, moving closer to Ron, so that Ginny could sit down between Hermione and himself. "So, what did you three just have?" she asked.

"Potions," Harry replied. "Snape gave Ron and Hermione detentions for talking in class."

"Oh no, really?" she said.

"Yeah, it was quite unfair, really," Harry continued and Ron nodded, agreeing.

The two continued to chat merrily as Hermione looked on, wondering at Harry's sudden change of opinion from back in the hallway before. 

She looked past Harry and Ginny to Ron, who was now helping himself to thirds, and hoped that he didn't notice how close Harry and Ginny had become over break this year. She knew that Ginny had liked Harry ever since she saw him at King's Cross Station, the year before she was due to come to school at Hogwarts, but Ginny had gotten over her crush after her third year (Harry, Ron and Hermione's fourth), when she started dating Michael Corner.

Ginny and Michael hadn't lasted long, and after a short relationship with Dean Thomas, she was now once again single. Hermione had noticed that Harry and Ginny had been spending an increasingly large amount of time together since the end of their last year at Hogwarts. She had also noticed that although Ginny could quite easily laugh off comments about how she used to fancy Harry, Harry now turned very slightly pink and laughed almost nervously when people made references to he and Ginny as a couple.

Hermione thought that Harry had every right to be nervous about this, as if she was right in suspecting that the tables had turned, and Harry now fancied Ginny, she knew that Ron was more likely to turn into a Hippogriff than he was to let Harry ask Ginny out.

She sighed, and went back to poking her food around her plate. Maybe one day Ron would realize that Harry and Ginny going out would not be so bad. Then again, she thought, he still hasn't figured out he fancies me yet. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

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AN: Well, there you go. It's not much of a chapter, really, just a taste. I have the second chapter written, so stay tuned. Review if you want more.

Cheers, 

      ~Ninny Weasley~

PS. How are you guys with the spacing? Good? Bad? Otherwise? I know how bad layout can ruin a perfectly good fan fic, so let me know if it bothers you, and I'll see what I can do.

      ~Nin.


	2. Chapter One: Toothbrushes & cursing

Detention

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Chapter the First: In which there is toothbrushes and cursing

After Potions that morning, Snape had wasted no time in organising Ron and Hermione's detention. They had both received notes from Professor McGonagall at the end of lunch, informing them that their detentions would take place at 10:00 that night, in the Hospital Wing ("Oh great!" said Ron, sarcastically, "bedpans again!")

Fortunately for them, when they turned up at the Hospital Wing that night, they were simply given a bucket of water, a toothbrush and a cake of soap each, and told that they were to wash the floor with these, and since they were prefects, they could supervise themselves. At this, Ron had said a few things which had made Hermione say "Ron! Don't swear!" But soon they set themselves down at one end of the room, and started scrubbing.

"Calm down, Ron. At least it's not anything disgusting." Hermione said coolly.

"You don't call having to clean this whole bloody floor with toothbrushes disgusting?!" Ron shot back.

"You know what I mean. Don't swear." said Hermione, scoldingly.

"I'll swear when I bloody well want to, thanks." an agitated Ron replied quickly, making Hermione scowl.

"Fine. I'll start scrubbing at the other end of the room." she snapped. She picked up her bucket and stated to walk off.

"No Hermione," Ron said, exasperated "I'm sorry. Don't go. Please?" He looked up at her, and she could tell he was genuinely sorry, remorse showing in those sparkling blue eyes, making her feel sorry for snapping at him, even though he knew she hated it when he swore.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back as she retraced her steps and plopped down beside him to continue scrubbing.

"You know," Ron began, "I suppose this isn't that bad. I mean there aren't any patients so we don't have to be quiet, and Madame Pomfrey's letting us supervise ourselves," he said.

"That's the spirit." said Hermione, happily. She liked it when Ron was in a good mood, and she liked it when she was right.

"I guess being a 'responsible Prefect' does have some good points." he finished.

"Ron," said Hermione, obviously annoyed. "You know there's more to being a Prefect than getting away with things."

"I know," he replied with a grin. "Just kidding." As if to further illustrate his point, he then held up his toothbrush and flicked it with his finger, causing a shower of soap bubbles to settle all over Hermione's robes and hair.

"Ron!" she yelled. "Now look at me! I have soap all over me!"

"I think it suits you." He grinned, teasing her.

"Oh yeah? See how you like it then!" she dipped her hand into her bucket, and flicked it out quickly. A large amount of soapy water splashed out of the bucket and landed in Ron's face.

"Oy! No fair! My eyes!" He yelled, rubbing them furiously in an attempt to get the soap out of them.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ron! I for got about the soap. Here, let me look at them."

She grabbed his wrists and tried to pull them away from his eyes, but he pulled away from her grip, grabbed his toothbrush, and did the first thing he thought of. He shoved it up her nose.

"Aaah, Ronnn!" She screamed as she pulled the toothbrush out of her nose. "Ron, that was horrible!"

Ron looked down, ashamed, bracing himself for the imminent lecture, but it never came. He slowly looked up, and was surprised to se Hermione grinning.

"I am going to get you so bad, Ron Weasley." she said quietly, eyes flashing.

He hardly had time to think how sexy she looked when she was like that, before she was on her feet, chasing him across the room. He ran behind a large cupboard, hoping to hide form her, but she was right behind him when he reached the end of the aisle, and there was a dead end. He backed up until he was standing against the wall, whilst Hermione advanced on him, menacingly brandishing her toothbrush.

She got closer, until she was standing about a foot away, apparently trying to figure out the most horrible thing she could do to him with the toothbrush at that moment.

Not waiting for her to figure it out, Ron again did the first thing that came into his head (you would have thought he'd learned, but this is Ron we're talking about…), he kissed her.

At first she just gasped, seemingly unable to move from shock, but slowly she warmed to him and began to kiss him back. Ron couldn't believe it. He was kissing Hermione Granger. HE was kissing HERMIONE GRANGER!! And she was kissing him back! It was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced, and he wondered why he hadn't known until this moment that he, Ron Weasley, fancied Hermione Granger. Hell, he was crazy about her! He smiled inwardly.

When she pulled away after a few seconds, Ron looked down and smiled, and was surprised to see Hermione looking down at the floor, a concerned expression on her face which made him nervous. Had he done something wrong? Was he a bad kisser?

"Umm," she said, not taking her eyes off the floor.

"Err," he replied, confused. "Yeah,"

"I think we should get back to our detentions." she said, before hurrying back to their buckets and resuming scrubbing, deliberately not looking at Ron.

Ron followed, inwardly slapping himself for being so stupid. Why would a fun, intelligent, pretty witch like Hermione want to kiss poor, gangly, stupid Ron? She was so far out of his league that it wasn't funny, and the worst thing was – now he thought he fancied her. Really fancied her. A lot. 

He'd ruined their friendship forever, they would never be able to talk, laugh, or do any of the normal things friends do together, without things being horribly awkward now. And Harry would find out. He would know something was wrong, and Hermione would probably tell him the whole story – of how horrible, stupid Ron had taken advantage of her, and how she hated him and she never wanted to see him ever again.

He nearly cried at that thought, but he bit back the tears. If she hated him, then so be it. But he wasn't going to let her see him cry. He scrubbed harder, determined to finish their task and get out of there, even though he thought gloomily to himself that it would probably be the last thing they would ever do together.

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They finished scrubbing the floor relatively quickly, as they would appear to a passer by to be too focussed on the task at hand to muck around, although both Ron and Hermione knew that this was not true, as they each had their own reasons for wanting to finish. 

Every now and then one of them would look up, see the other looking at them, and quickly look away again. This continued until Madame Pomfrey entered the room at around 12:30, to tell them that they had done enough, and that they could empty their buckets and go to bed.

Ron was first to the sink, and as he walked away Hermione called out to him.

"Ron?"

He turned around.

"I think we missed a bit behind that cupboard. We'd better go clean it up." she said, a little uncertainly, but at least she was talking to him. Maybe she didn't hate him as much as he thought.

He followed her around the corner, and stopped to look at the floor. It was spotless.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. "It's fine."

Hermione, who was now standing next to him, blocking his escape, looked up at Ron, a lopsided grin on her face.

"Oh," she said, nonchalantly. "My mistake."

And with this she closed the gap between them, kissing a now very confused Ron again; winding her arms around his neck as she kissed him harder. She was overjoyed, her plan had worked, and by the way Ron was kissing her back, he was pretty happy too. She congratulated herself for having the guts to trick Ron, after reacting as she had the first time he kissed her, purely out of shock.

As they stood there, all the passion they had been suppressing over the last six years being poured out into their kiss, for the first time in their lives they both knew that this was what they wanted. Each other.

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AN: Awww, sweet. But what will happen next? Will things be different in the morning? How will they tell Harry? And what have Harry and Ginny been doing while Ron and Hermione have been in the Hospital Wing snogging?

Should I leave it there, or continue? Review if you want more, I need ideas.

    ~Ninny Weasley~


	3. Chapter Two: Snogging and, well, More Sn...

AN: Hey everyone! Remember me? Well, I'm on a break from studying, and I've got here for you the next chapter of my fave fic, after I left it where it was for so long! I just got such a great response from the all the great readers both at ff.net and checkmated that I just couldn't wait to show this to you guys! I hope the wait wasn't too long –I tried to wrap it up in the last chapter so that I didn't leave it hanging. Hope you all enjoy!

Detention

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Chapter the Second: In which there is snogging, and, well, more snogging!

When Ron and Hermione reached the portrait (after no less than three stops behind various statues along the way), they were both exhausted from kissing, and the adrenaline that had been coursing through their veins for the last few hours. They had to wake up the Fat Lady in order to get into the Common Room.

"Ahem, Flibberty Gibbert," said Hermione, loudly. The Fat Lady continued to snore lightly in her frame.

"Flibberty Gibbert!" tried Ron. Nothing. "Flibberty Gibbert! Flibberty Gibbert, Gibberty Flibbert –oh, damn!" At this the pair burst into loud fits of giggles, and the Fat Lady snorted before her eyes snapped open, and she apologised and swung forwards to let them in.

            Hermione recovered first from laughing, and straightened up to walk in, but instead let out a small, high-pitched squeak and slammed the portrait shut again. 

            "Well, I never!" said the Fat Lady as Ron looked up, slightly confused now that he had finished laughing.

            "I just realized," said Hermione, thinking quickly, "Scrubbing floors makes me hungry. Lets go down to the kitchens and see what's left from tea."

            "But Hermione-" Ron started, breaking off when his stomach grumbled loudly. "Oh, alright then." He followed obediently down the hallway, as Hermione looked back over her shoulder to say sorry for waking the Fat Lady.

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In the Common Room, Harry Potter was dimly aware of hearing laughter, followed by a startled shriek, before a loud bang woke him from his light dose. He looked down at the girl who had fallen asleep with him on the couch and knew that she had heard it too, because she had moved her head, to stare with wide eyes at the back of the portrait, from where it had been resting on his chest in sweet sleep a moment before.

            "What happened, Harry?" she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her hand which she had moved from where it had come to rest over his heart as she slept.

            "Dunno. Someone was laughing outside, and then they must've opened the portrait, and then slammed it shut again."

            "Oh. Oh! No, Harry, do you think it could have been Ron and Hermione? Do you think they saw us? What will we tell them? Oh, Harry, if he saw us –he'll kill you Harry!" She was now pacing the rug in front of Harry, throwing her hands up animatedly while a worried frown creased her pretty face. Harry thought it was quite cute, but still didn't like to see her worry like this.

            "Ginny," he said as he reached out and pulled her into his lap, "it'll be fine. I'll be fine. Even if it was Ron and Hermione, I don't think Ron saw, or else he'd be in here right now doing I-don't-know-what to me-" here he paused to smile at the concerned expression displayed by his girlfriend of the last hour-and-a-half (well, one hour, twenty four minutes and thirty two seconds to be precise, but he wasn't counting or anything …) "but he's not, and I can take care of myself. I really like you, Ginny, and if Ron doesn't like it, well, he's just going to_ have _to like it, isn't he? Because I'm not ready to give you up now that I've finally told you how I feel, and no best friend of mine is going to make me!" He gathered her closer to him and kissed her chastely on the lips when she turned her head to look at him.

            "I like you too, Harry. A lot," she said, "And I think we owe Hermione big-time."

            "And I think it's about time we went to bed before they come back again," he said, hurriedly adding "–Separate beds!" when he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes at his carelessly worded statement.

            "You spoil all my fun," she replied in mock disappointment, punching him lightly on the arm as she turned to head up the girls' staircase. Harry watched her go, stretching and yawning widely, but never quite ceasing to grin as memories of earlier that night floated lazily around the semi-conscious fuzz which was currently his brain.

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*earlier that night*

After dinner, the trio had drifted back to the Gryffindor Common Room and were busy doing homework (or trying to avoid said homework) on the large sofa closest to the fire. At about quarter to ten, Hermione laid down her quill and turned to Ron.

            "It's quarter to ten, Ron, we'd better start heading down to the Hospital Wing for Detention. You know what Snape's like –he'll give us another if we don't get there on time." Ron, who had been dreaming about Honeydukes' new range of Sugar Quills which changed flavours according to what the consumer wanted them to taste like, was none too happy to be so suddenly brought out of his reveries, but only grumbled a little, and stopped altogether when he saw Hermione's understanding expression as she reached out a hand to pull him out of the squashy chair he had sunk into.

            As the pair exited through the portrait, he thought that it wouldn't be so bad spending the evening with Hermione, even if they did have to scrub bedpans, just as long as she didn't start going on about _spew_, or her latest campaign for elvish rights again. Harry watched them go, smiling at how Ron watched Hermione climb through the portrait hole, holding out his arm for her to steady herself on, even though she was perfectly capable of balancing herself. He continued to smile to himself as he wondered if Ron would ever realize his feelings for their bushy-haired friend. He sunk into his own thoughts, and was thinking about what he would buy at Zonko's joke shop next Hogsmeade weekend when he noticed a pair of feet wearing dirty white trainers and standing in front of his sofa, that weren't there before.

            "Hello Harry."

            "Ginny."

            "Yes, that's me, why are you sitting here all by yourself?" She cocked her head to the side, making her ginger hair shimmer like flames in the firelight. Flames that he would love to have all over his face when he was kissing her, Harry thought. Harry thought that he should stop thinking things like that.

            "Oh, no reason, really, I was just thinking," he replied honestly.

            "What were you thinking about?" she asked, as she sat down on the couch beside him.

            "Dungbombs."

            "Oh." She smiled. "I should have known." The smile widened.

            "So why are you over here talking to me instead of your friends?" Harry said, turning the conversation away from himself.

            "Oh, they were all talking about how they think Oliver Wood is absolutely gorgeous," –here she clasped her hands and swooned dramatically for effect- "and then I saw you sitting over here all by your self, and I figured you might enjoy some company, and you were probably more interesting than them anyway."

            Harry smiled at this, but Ginny could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

            "What's bothering you, Harry?" she asked, concerned.

            "Nothing," he said firmly, and, in Ginny's opinion, a little too quickly.

            "Look, Harry, I know something's wrong, and it's okay if you don't want to tell me, but I'm not stupid. You don't have to pretend like everything's alright around me," she said, her tone half warning him, but half so full of care and concern that he was compelled to look up into her eyes.

            "I'm sorry; I know you're not stupid. It's just … I don't want to talk about it right now."

            "It's ok, Harry. As long as it's not about me!" she teased, but her smile faded when she saw him look up suddenly, a flicker of panic crossing his features before he realized that she was joking.

            "It's not … about me, is it? Harry?" she questioned, cautiously.

            "No! Of course not!" She could tell he was lying.

            "Harry, I know we're all supposed to give you our space, and not try to make you talk and everything, but if you know something about me, and you won't tell me … well, I'm going to bed," she said angrily, turning on her heel to march up the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

            "Ginny, wait!" He placed a hand on her arm to stop her going.

            "Well? What do you have to tell me?" If he was keeping secrets from her that were about her, she wasn't going to let him off the hook easily.

            "I like you." He looked at the floor, and then up at her face when she didn't reply. She looked confused, and impatient for an explanation.

            "I like you," he said again, his eyes not leaving hers, a solemn expression on his face.

            "What are you talking about, Harry, I like you too –you're my friend, and …"

            "No," he cut in, standing up to face her, his hand still resting lightly on her arm, "I mean, not like a friend. I fancy you, Ginny. Now can you see why I didn't want to tell you?" He watched as her expression was replaced with one of wide-eyed shock, and she gasped quietly.

            "Oh, Harry, I had no idea! I mean, I'm your best friend's little sister, and I'm not pretty like Lavender or Parvarti, and I'm not even in your grade, and-" Harry cut her off by placing a finger over her lips.

            "It's ok if you don't like me back. I understand. I just … please don't be mad at me, Ginny, you wanted me to tell you, and I … I guess you would have found out eventually. Just please don't tell Ron, he'll thump the shit out of me," he finished, pathetically.

            "Oh, no! that's not what I mean, I mean … Harry … I … I fancy you too," she said, half scared, half excited, her eyes still almost comically wide.

            "Oh," said Harry, more confused than he was before, and also exceedingly thankful that no-one else was around to see this.

            "Well." He sat down heavily and studied his hands. "What do we do now?"

            "I don't know." Ginny flopped down next to him. "Uh, Harry?" she asked shyly.

            "Yes?" They were now looking into each other's eyes again.

            "Can I, um, kiss you?" she said, her eyes flicking between his, and her hands where they lay on the sofa between them. His mouth started to curve, until it broke into a full grin and she could see the mirth that twinkled in his eyes. She smiled back, and both burst into full, hearty laughter, now that the tension between them had broken. Before Ginny had stopped, Harry took his chance and cupped her face in his hands, leaning in quickly to capture her lips with his own. He felt her gasp into his mouth, and then begin to respond to the kiss, which he deepened as she leant backwards, pulling him down with her until they were lying on the couch, him on top of her.

            After a few minutes, when their lips were swollen from kissing, and both were quite out of breath, they broke the kiss, and Harry flopped down to lay his head on Ginny's shoulder while she sighed with contentment and threaded her fingers through his (now even more messy than usual) hair.

            "Well," she sighed more that spoke, "that was interesting."

            "I'll say."

            "Who'd have thought you'd be such a good kisser?" she teased. In response to this, Harry lifted his head and blew a loud raspberry in the crook of Ginny's neck. She squealed and laughed and Harry, liking her response, did it again, causing her to squirm under him, her hips bucking against him, reminding him exactly how aroused he was from lying on top of her, kissing her like this. The sensation of her brushing against him caused him to cry out, and she froze immediately.

            "What's wrong, Harry, did I hurt you?"

            "No, it's just," he began, easing himself up off her, a pained expression on his face. "I think we should sit up now."

            "Oh, ok," she said, shifting backwards and swinging her legs on to the ground to sit up next to Harry.

            "I'm going to wait up for Ron and Hermione," he said to break the uncomfortable silence which had settled over them. "You can wait with me, if you like."

            "I think I would like that very much," she smiled at him, "but sitting up, hey?"

            "Uh, yeah, I think so."

            "That's cool." She leant her glossy head on his shoulder, and he placed his arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him.

            "Ginny?"

            "Yes?"

            "Would you, I mean, do you want to, um, go out with me?" She smiled warmly as he finished his sentence.

            "Yes, I would love to. Yes," she said, turning around to face him. They smiled as they kissed, softly and slowly, unlike their frenzied snogging before. It was nice, and the pauses between kisses gradually got longer, until, still smiling, they both drifted into contented sleep in each other's arms.

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AN: Well, I hope no-one was confused by me fiddling around with time in that chapter –I though it would be more fun to find out what made Hermione squeal after she had done it, although I bet some of you figured it out yourselves –clever people!

Next chapter: Ron and Hermione in the kitchen. There is some mischief… and it's not what you think! Well, OK, maybe there is some of that too, but there is some other naughtiness and shenanigans too! My only problem is that I am not really feeling motivated to write the next chapter, even though I already know what I am going to do with it. So here's where you –Ron/Hermione fan fic lover and generally all-round nice person- get to help –the more reviews I get, the more likely I am to keep writing! So, review away!

~Ninny Weasley~


	4. Chapter Three: Mischief and Machinations

AN: I know nobody reads these, but thanks so much for the reviews! They really did help! Also, a big thankyou to my excellent beta, rubberduckie85, for being so fast checking my last chapter! If you see something familiar (apart from the stuff that belongs to Rowling), that's probably not mine either. Please see the acknowledgements down the bottom. As always, reviews are appreciated, even _adored_, and they help me to get more chappies written faster, so if you like what you see and want more, _review_! That is all.

Detention

oooooooo

Chapter the Third: Mischief and Machinations

In the corridor outside the portrait, Ron lengthened his strides in order to catch up with Hermione, which was not hard given his legs were so much longer than hers.

            "Why are we going to the kitchens?" he asked again.

            I told you- I'm hungry," she said, still walking briskly towards the staircase that would lead them down to the Hogwarts kitchens.

            "But Hermione, it's midnight."

            "I know that. I just don't want to go back to the common room just yet."

            "Why?"

            "Well," she said, stopping to face him. Ron noticed that she was still holding his hand, and blushed slightly despite the face that he had already done a lot more than hold hands with her that night. "I don't know about you, she said, smiling at the pink tinge in his cheeks, "but I had a good time tonight- well, for the last half hour or so. And I'm not quite ready to go to sleep yet."

            "Oh," was all Ron could say to this kind of logic, "I see. I had fun too." She smiled at him and he leaned down to capture her lips in a short, sweet kiss before they continued up the corridor. Ron smiled stupidly at how lucky he felt to be allowed to do that, and made a mental note to take advantage of this.

            "So, what do you think Harry did tonight without us two bickering to entertain him?" he asked after walking for a few moments in contemplative silence. He angled his head to look down as his bushy-haired friend. _Not just a friend any more_, he corrected his own thoughts, and squeezed her small hand gently when she smiled up at him before answering. Instead of chiding him, reminding him that Harry hated it when they fought; she said simply "Oh, I'm sure he's had plenty to keep him occupied."

            "How do you mean?" he asked.

            "Oh, you know, homework … and we aren't his only friends –I'm sure Seamus and Neville and Dean were probably there to keep him company; although I'm not too sure he likes Dean all that much," she finished, thoughtfully.

            "And he'd have good reason not to like him too! Smarmy git! Thinks he can get his hands on my baby sister, does he? I'll show him, I will!" Here he began to mutter incoherently and Hermione was once again surprised how protective he was of his younger sister, Ginny, and how quickly his mood could change at the mere mention of one of his sister's suitors as she caught the words "smarmy git" and "show him a thing or two".

            "Well, I don't think you have to worry about Dean," she said soothingly, placing her free hand in the crook of his arm in an effort to calm him. "Ginny is perfectly capable of protecting herself, and I don't think she likes him anymore anyway."

            "What makes you say that?" he asked.

            "Just a hunch," she said, nonchalantly. "Just a feeling I have."

            "What feeling? What makes you so sure you're right?"

            "Well," she said slyly, looking up at him as they stopped in front of the painting which covered the entrance t the kitchens. "I had a feeling about you." Ron paused.

            "That's different," he began to protest before she silenced him by covering his mouth with her own. As she kissed him passionately, he found he suddenly couldn't remember what he was going to say, or in fact what they had just been talking about at all.

When Ron had been good and truly snogged, and Hermione was sure that he would have forgotten all about their last conversation, she broke the kiss and tickled the pear to let them into the kitchen while Ron stood behind her, panting.

            "Hungry?" she asked him when they were inside.

            "Ravenous."

oooooooo

After the two had helped themselves to a variety of sweets, (Ron discovered that Hermione had almost as bad a sweet tooth as he did, with a particular weakness for chocolate éclairs) and had had entirely too much fun with a bowl of chocolate sauce left over from that night's puddings, Hermione decided to voice an idea that she had been turning over in her mind since late that morning in potions.

            "You know, I think it's about time someone taught Snape that he just can't go around giving out detentions to the other houses like that. What he did to us this morning was really unfair, to way the least." _But look where it got us_, thought Ron before replying.

            "And _how_, Miss Hermione Granger, stickler for school rules, and not to mention, _Prefect_, do you propose to do that? More to the point," he said, noticing the mischievous glint in her eyes, "_who_ do you propose to do that?"

            "With this." She produced a small vial filled with a clear liquid of some sort from an inner pocked in her robes and waved it about devilishly in front of his face.

            "Is that …?" He stared in amazement.

            "It is. Veritaserum. I kept it from Potions this morning after Snape gave us detentions. Thought it might come in handy."

            "But what are we going to do with that? Make him confess that he's an evil git who gives out detentions for no good reason? Everybody already _knows_ that." he asked, curiosity fighting down his amazement that Hermione, normally Saint Granger except in extreme circumstances, would so blatantly break a school rule purely on a whim.

            "Oh, no," she said, still grinning evilly, "I have a much better idea than that."

            "And that would be?" He raised one eyebrow at his rather out-of-character girlfriend, _or at least girlfriend-to-be_, he thought. He would have to ask her properly later.

            "Well, according to _Moste Potente Potions: When Good Potions Go Bad_, if Veritaserum is mixed with the juice from three spotted toadstools and applied directly to the skin, it has quite unusual effects!"

            "I see you've researched this," Ron said, clearly worried at this new rebellious streak Hermione was showing. "What, exactly, does it do?"

            "Well, it works a bit like normal veritaserum, only instead of making a person tell the truth, they end up saying all sorts of crazy things that are lies, but they are whatever the person worst fears that they could say about themselves, say, if they were drunk, or something," she finished, now grinning triumphantly at her new discovery. She grinned a lot, actually.

            "So … so if we gave it to Snape, he would start saying all sorts of embarrassing things?"

            "Exactly."

            "And he can't stop himself from saying them?"

            "No."

            "Hermione?"

            "Yes Ron?"

            "You're brilliant." Hermione grinned from ear to ear as he swept her into a bear-hug, before picking her up and running a lap around the kitchen, while she giggled and playfully beat at his back with her fists, letting out small squeals of mock indignation. They would start work on their potion in secret tomorrow. Tonight they were just going to enjoy each other's company, and their new relationship.

oooooooo

Chapter the Third Part B: 'Morally Loose'

After they had finished in the kitchen, Ron and Hermione cleaned up with a few good cleaning charms, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower (this time with no less than _seven_ stops behind statues, or in broom closets when there weren't enough statues). This time, when they woke the Fat Lady to let them in, Hermione was glad to see that the Common Room was completely devoid of any cosy couples who shall remain nameless, and proceeded to step inside after Ron.

            Now utterly exhausted, the pair proceeded to walk towards the bottom of the girls' staircase in comfortable silence, hand in hand. They stopped, and Ron turned towards Hermione, reaching for her other hand as she blushed, knowing what would come next. Hermione closed her eyes and tilted her face upwards, waiting for the soft brush of Ron's lips against hers, but it didn't come. Confused, and slightly embarrassed, she cracked an eye open. What she saw almost made her cry. Above her, looking down, were two deep pools of blue, studying her, drinking in the sight of her as she stood there. She had seen Ron's eyes many times before, but not like this. An expression of deep admiration so sincere was etched into Ron's features as he stood there, gazing down at her. In a second, he blinked, and it was gone, but the feeling it gave her to be looked at like that, respected, almost revered, would last her a lot longer.

            She blushed, and looked down at her shoes, waiting for him to speak.

            "Hermione?" She looked up at him.

            "I had a good time tonight."

            "So did I," she said, slightly puzzled. This was not quite what she had been expecting.

            "Can we, uh, d'you think … we could do it again some time?" _Ah, that's what he was about._ "I mean, not detention, the- the other stuff, uh …" She smiled impishly. He had put his foot in it, and she was not about to let him off the hook too easily. She wasn't, after all, some kind of _snog__-machine_. There was more to her than the side he had seen tonight.

            "What, the sneaking down to the kitchens _way_ past the time when we should have been in bed asleep?" He was looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Holding hands?" _No, that wasn't quite what he was thinking of …_ "Snogging?" _Bingo._

            "I guess, what I mean is, no, I _know_ what I mean, and …Hermione, Willyougowoutwimme??"

            "Sorry, Ron? Didn't quite catch that last bit." Her cheeky grin gave her away. His concerned expression melted into one of slightly amused annoyance, coupled with enormous relief. He could play any game she wanted –right now Ronald Weasley was King of the World. Said King of the World dropped one of his fair maiden's hands and got down on one knee on the carpet, clasping her other hand gently with both of his own and looking solemnly into her eyes. The corners of his own eyes crinkled as he tried not to laugh and spoil their game.

            "Hermione Granger," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, "Will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

            The fair maiden scrunched her nose up as though considering his request, and then dissolved into girlish giggles.

            "Yes, Ron. I'd be delighted to." She moved her hand, still held delicately by both of his, forward for him to kiss, which he did, charmingly. They both smiled widely as he stood, then cupped her face in his hands, leaned down, and kissed her until they both needed to stop for air. He could get used to this, he thought, and that was exactly what he planned to do. He held her tightly as they both breathed deeply, resting his chin on the top of her head, then stepped back to take one last look at her before saying goodnight.

It was then that Ron noticed Hermione had a funny expression on her face.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked her, bringing her out of her trance.

"I was thinking," she said slowly, looking up at him calculatingly, "that if you were less of a gentleman, and more like Malfoy, or maybe Dean, that you would ask me if I wanted to come up to your dorm right now." She held eye contact with him, seemingly curious, and a little puzzled by her own thoughts. Ron was visibly more than a little shaken.

"Uh … do you?" he croaked out, the tips of his ears turning very slightly pink.

"And I was thinking," she continued, just as slowly and carefully as before, "That if I was … morally loose … like, oh, Lavender or Parvati, I think would be safe to say," (It was true that Hermione had woken more than once to see either one of her fellow dorm mates entering the dorm after spending the night elsewhere) "that … well …"

"You don't want to come." Ron finished for her.

"No," she said shortly.

"Well, goodnight, then."

"Yes, goodnight Ron," she said softly, still looking rather out of sorts within her own head. She watched as Ron, ears now quite pink, turned and headed up the boys' staircase.

"Ron?" she called to him, just before he rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight. He turned to look at her, raising one eyebrow questioningly. "If I didn't have - that is to say, if I was …"

"If you were what?"

"If I was … morally loose … I think I would definitely want to come up to your dorm with you," she finished quickly, averting her gaze to stare bashfully at her shoes again. Well, they _were_ very nice shoes.

"Oh." Ron's mouth dropped open, and he stared at her in amazement for a few seconds before replying.

"Well then," he said, walking over to where she was standing in the middle of the common room, still staring intently at her shoes, and now blushing madly. "If you ever become … 'morally loose' … be sure to let me know." He leaned down to kiss the crown of her head lightly, and she looked up into his eyes again, smiling sheepishly.

"OK." He pulled her close and kissed her softly, as she would her arms around his neck, leaning into him. They stood there for several minutes, each drinking in the feel of the other, the scent, the warmth, the taste. When they both returned to their respective dormitories, they were both immensely glad to see that all of their dorm mates were in bed with their curtains drawn, snoring lightly. As they each got into their pyjamas and slid under the covers of their four-poster beds, they smiled to themselves, happily recalling thoughts of earlier that night, and very much in like.

oooooooo

Hermione's love for éclairs is from a truly excellent fic I have read somewhere, which I can't quite remember the name or author of right now. Kudos to you, whoever you are.

Deb, there's a joke in there for you. You know where.

To make a long AN short:

1.         Hands up who read the word 'willy' in Ron's run-on sentence and giggled?

2.         Sorry for the extra chapter title. I couldn't help myself.

3.         I am aware that the fic _Black Christmas_ by Portkey and Jane uses the idea that the effects of Veritaserum can be manipulated. I did have the idea for this chapter before I read that fic. Believe me or not. Unfortunately it was never finished, so the ideas for how to change the effects _are_ mine wether you believe me about the rest or not.

4.         A slap on the wrist to me for spelling Parvati 'Parvarti' in the last chapter. I'm sure she wouldn't feel so bad for having her name spelled wrong since Ginny called her pretty. (It's the mention she gets in the next chapter she'll get cranky about!)

5.         Reviews help. Sorry to repeat myself.


	5. Chapter Four: The Morning After

AN: First of all, I am insanely proud of myself, because -as of this chapter being posted- four chapters and a prologue make this my longest fic yet! Nextly, thankyou very much to my awesome reviewers -you guys are great. Sorry for taking so long to update, guys! Here's the next chapter for you all to read, and hopefully enjoy!

Cheers,

Ninny.

Detention

oooooooo

Chapter the Fourth: The Morning After

**Waking Ron**

The next morning, Harry was the first of the trio to wake, having had the most sleep out of all of them. He looked down at his watch and realized that now would be a good time to get up if he wanted to have a relaxed breakfast before Potions class in first period. He stretched his arms up above his head and yawned, wondering why he felt so good this morning. Then an image of something red and orange and shimmery in front of his eyes filled his brain, and he was suddenly back in the common room last night, being snogged senseless by Ginny Weasley. His _girlfriend_ Ginny Weasley. Now he knew why he felt like he'd just won the Quidditch cup in his sleep. He knew he must look like an idiot, lying there grinning like Crookshanks when he'd just caught a mouse, and brought his headless trophy as a gift to Hermione so that she could tell him what a good little hunter he was. He decided he'd better give himself something else to grin about, in case anyone asked. Time to wake up Ron.

"Oy, Ron." Silence.

"Ron," he called through the curtains of his friend's bed. "Ron, wake up, its morning and we have Potions first up with the Slytherins."

"Oh, great, that's really something to get up for," grumbled Ron, as he rolled over and drifted off again. Harry grinned evilly. There were some things that he could only get away with when Ron was half asleep. He pulled the hangings open and shook Ron by the shoulders.

"Gerroff, Harry!" he protested, slapping the air around him to rid himself of his friend's grip when Harry jumped away before he could catch him.

"Ron, get up. There's a spider in your bed, I saw it crawl in there just now." The effect was instantaneous. Ron, being too sleepy to realize Harry was lying, and not wanting to take his chances anyway, leapt out of the bed faster that he usually moved when he was awake, and sprinted to the farthest corner of the room. Harry was extremely grateful that his friend wore boxer shorts to bed, or else he would just have seen a lot more of Ron than he ever wanted to.

"Where is it?" Ron yelled, eyes wide with fear. "Get it out! Is it on me?" He then proceeded to look down at his front, then flip his hands through his hair, and then attempt to look at his back. All this was done in quick succession, making him look like he was doing some kind of energetic jig. _That, or having a fit_, Harry decided later. Harry and the other occupants of the dorm, namely Seamus, Neville and Dean, stared at Ron for a second, and then burst into simultaneous, full-bellied laughter.

Ron looked at them all for a moment, puzzled, and then began to turn a violent shade of red.

"Oh, very funny, Harry. Pick on me while I'm sleeping, why don't you? I hope you're happy." He scowled at Harry, then at the other boys, who quickly started coughing and went back to what they were doing before.

"Very," said Harry, smugly. "You put on a good show, you know. And since you're up, why not have a shower and come down to breakfast with me?" He smiled happily at Ron, who was now absolutely glowering at him, his fists balled at his sides while his whole body (or all that was visible) glowed red. "Lighten up, it was only a joke," Harry said, throwing a pillow at Ron, who caught and held it very tightly for a second, muttering darkly to himself before violently throwing it down and stalking off towards the showers. Harry thought he heard Ron mutter something to the effect of "spider in _his_ bed, see how_ he _likes it" as he stormed past. Harry chuckled to himself. Ron would thank him later when they got to Potions on time, well fed and not rushed like they usually were.

oooooooo

In the shower, Ron reflected on the events of the night before, once he had gotten over plotting to do something horrible to Harry. He had finally worked up the nerve to kiss Hermione, and she had shut him down. Then _she_ had kissed _him_. She really was a minx, that girl, _my_ girl, he thought happily, while he was soaping up. Then there was all the rest of what they had done last night. He could feel his skin heating up again as he grinned. She was brilliant. And her plot to take revenge on Snape was incredible. They could get into a lot of trouble for what they were going to do, he knew, but she wasn't the smartest witch in Hogwarts for nothing! As he finished his shower, he daydreamed about what Snape would say once he was under the influence of the potion they were going to concoct.

When Harry and Ron arrived in the Great Hall, breakfast was already well underway. Glancing down the Gryffindor table, the two boys noticed Hermione already there, a piece of toast held frozen half way to her mouth as she pored over the large tome propped up on the table in front of her.

"'Morning, 'Mione," Ron yawned as he plopped down on the bench next to her.

"Hello, Ron, Harry," she said happily, smiling at Ron next to her, and then at Harry as he sat down across from her.

"Whass all this?" asked Ron, indicating the enormous book which she had now gone back to reading, the piece of toast abandoned on her plate, uneaten. Ron picked up the toast and bit into it, chewing as he leaned over to see what she was reading.

"Arithmancy," she stated simply, her eyes not leaving the page. Harry and Ron exchanged glances across the table. "What?" she asked irritably, looking up to find two pairs of eyes watching her in disbelief.

"Don't you ever stop studying?" Ron asked.

"Not if I can help it," she said, attempting humour but failing miserably as the boys continued to stare at her like she was mad. "Look, I missed out on a lot of homework time when we were doing detention last night, now will you two stop staring at me and eat something?" Harry and Ron exchanged glances again and began to pile their plates with food; Ron discarding Hermione's toast as it was now quite cold, and buttering her and himself another slice. Hermione smiled and accepted his attempt at a peace offering, and proceeded to munch while still reading her book. Harry observed this with a carefully concealed smile, and started to eat.

"So, Ron, you up for Quidditch practice tonight?" he asked.

"Actually, I was thinking if turning in early tonight," said Ron. "Was up pretty late last night, and frankly I'm buggered. Sorry, mate," he added, seeing Harry's disappointment, "How about tomorrow night?"

"Can't," said Harry, "Occlumency."

"Oh, well that's rotten luck, that is," said Ron, "and right after double Potions, too!" Harry nodded glumly, but stopped when he noticed Hermione's head snap up to look at him, eyes bright. He raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed slightly, looking back down at her book, but Harry, continuing to watch her, noticed that her eyes weren't moving across the page like they were before, and her brow was creased in thought. He decided to let her go, since she obviously didn't want to discuss whatever bright idea had just come to her.

Ron, who had missed completely the exchange between his two best friends, started on the large amount of sausages and eggs in front of him. Looking over at Hermione, still studying away, he reached across the bench between them, taking her small hand in his, where nobody could see them. He noticed her smile while she continued to read. Encouraged, he began to stroke her thumb with his, and was rewarded when she squeezed his hand, still not looking up from her enormous book. He hoped Harry didn't notice what he was doing. Fortunately, Harry seemed to have been distracted by a large, noisy group of girls who were in the year below them. He watched as his younger sister detached herself from the group and sat down next to Harry.

"Hello, everyone," she said, cheerfully, helping herself to breakfast.

"Hello, Ginny, sleep well?" Hermione asked, finally giving up on her Arithmancy homework and closing the book.

"Yes, very well, thanks" Ginny replied, looking down at her plate. Hermione's question was innocent enough, but the younger girl couldn't help blushing as she thought of what Hermione had seen her doing with Harry on the couch the night before. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks to any god who was listening that they had not been interrupted earlier.

"Why aren't you sitting with your friends?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

"Oh, they were all talking about how they think Oliver Wood is absolutely _gorgeous_, and then I saw you guys sitting over here, and I figured you were probably more interesting," she said, with a roll of her eyes for added effect. Harry didn't have to disguise his laughter at her variation of the same excuse she had used when she came to talk to him the night before, because as soon as he started laughing a piece of scrambled egg he was eating went lodged its self in the back of his nose, and he started choking.

"Calm down, Harry," Ginny added, patting him lightly on the back to dislodge the runaway breakfast. "They're too young for Wood –I'm sure you still have a fighting chance." Harry tried to glare at her, but gave up when he discovered that glaring took energy away from removing his breakfast from his nasal passages. Ron guffawed heartily at Harry's rather comical expressions as he continued his attempt to dislodge the food, while Hermione watched anxiously, apparently concerned for Harry's welfare –however funny it was, someone had to looked worried for him.

Finally, with one last (rather hard) pat from Ginny, Harry was able to rid himself of the evil scrambled eggs, which very quickly became airborne scrambled eggs, flying across the Great Hall as the four Gryffindors, and anyone else who had been watching Harry's fight with his breakfast, turned to watch. The eggs traced a graceful arc through the air, falling to splatter squelchily across the neck of one Draco Malfoy, who was at the time sitting at the Slytherin table between his large comrades Crabbe and Goyle, lazily buttering a piece of toast. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny's amazed expressions changed instantly into matching evil grins, before they joined three quarters of the rest of the students in the Hall, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt. They laughed even harder as Draco, after screaming loudly at a very high pitch, began to dance from foot to foot, gesticulate wildly at the mess which was now slowly making its way down the inside of his school robes. He began to scream enthusiastically at his burly friends to "Get it off, _get it off_!!" Unfortunately for him, this had absolutely no effect whatsoever, as the boys were currently lying in a heap on the Hall floor, wiping the tears of laughter out of their eyes as they chuckled heartily at their friend's misfortune.

oooooooo

After a considerable amount of time, the Hall began to quiet, slowly resuming its normal hum of voices as the students chatted animatedly with each other. Several of the older students thanked Draco for the free entertainment, patting him on the back and grinning as he muttered obscenities, his face redder that a Gryffindor Quidditch uniform. Crabbe and Goyle set to work, mopping him up with the robes they had pinched from a young Ravenclaw student who happened to be passing by.

Hermione, still clutching Ron's hand as she tried to control her breathing, released his hand to help herself to more bacon, still grinning to herself and giggling sporadically. She nearly jumped when she felt his warm touch as he placed his hand on her leg, just above her knee where the thick material of her school skirt did not cover. She thought about removing the offending hand, but decided it would be too obvious, as her own hand was needed above the table to cut up her bacon so that she could eat it.

Ron's hand began to rub small circles up and down her thigh, sending delicious shivers up her spine. If he didn't stop soon, someone was going to notice her glazed expression, or the colour creeping into her warming cheeks, and suspect something. She stood up abruptly, causing several people around her to jump in their seats, and Ron to bang his knuckles painfully on the underside of the table.

"I just remembered, I left my potions book in the common room, I'll see you guys in Potions," she said hurriedly, looking pointedly at Ron before turning on her heel and hurrying out if the great hall like she was late for class already. Ron tried not to look like he had just had his hand smacked with a considerable amount of force against something very hard.

"Yeah, I … have to go get something too," he said. Ron stood up and followed her out, looking more than slightly puzzled and just a little hurt.

"Well, that was …" Harry trailed off,

"Weird," Ginny finished for him, "You don't think … those two …?" She raised her eyebrows optimistically.

"Well, they were acting strangely this morning, even for them, and then when it looked like Hermione was going to rip Ron's head off, and she just smiled … something's definitely going on."

"Let's hope it's what we think it is," said Ginny, squeezing Harry's hand affectionately. She looked up and smiled at him, and he began to lean towards her. Quickly, she realized what he was doing and let go of his hand, leaning back away from him. "Harry, we can't," she said regretfully.

"I know," he said, sighing and slouching where he sat.

"It's just that, if someone sees, Ron'll hear about it, and then we're both in trouble."

"I know," he said again, uselessly. "I guess we should get to class, then."

"Not just yet," she said, smiling wickedly, "We still have a few minutes left. Meet me in the broom closet off the entrance hall in five." With this, she stood up and walked confidently out of the hall, not looking back. Harry realized that his eyes were bugging out as he watched her go. He closed his mouth and turned back to his plate, smiling all the way through a copious amount of bacon and sausages (he left the rest of his eggs alone), before getting up and practically skipping out the hall after three and a half minutes had passed and he had given up waiting.

oooooooo

AN: I hope no one minded the absence of any plot in this chapter –I figured you could live without it, since there wasn't any until last chapter, and even then it was really just an excuse for extended fluff and silly happenings… Why not tell me what you think?

Nin.


	6. Chapter Five: The Truth is Revealed

AN: Hello everybody! I have finally written another chapter to what I'm sure you all thought I had abandoned. Rest assured that I have not given up, and that hopefully this little fic of mine will be finished within the month!

Ninny.

Detention

oooooooo

Chapter the Sixth: In which the Truth is Revealed

When Professor Flitwick opened the door of the Charms classroom to admit his first class of the day, he did not notice the absence of two of his students. Harry Potter fidgeted nervously as he sat down at his desk, wondering why his two best friends were late.

oooooooo

"Ron, stop moaning. You see, Myrtle," said Hermione, delicately, "What Ron means is: if you don't stay on your bathroom, how are we meant to find you when we want to talk to you?" Ron nodded his agreement.

"Why would you want to talk to me? Nobody _ever_ wants to talk to me," Myrtle whined.

"Well, of course they do … look how helpful you were when Harry was hearing the basilisk in third year," said Hermione, grasping at straws. "You helped him find out what was attacking people."

"He asked me how I died," said Myrtle, suddenly starry-eyed at the mention of Harry's name.

"Yes, a fascinating story, as we've all heard," Hermione digressed, "But unfortunately you are not made to be here where we can find you, and you're free to visit any of the castle's many bathrooms. Speaking of bathrooms," she paused, catching Ron's eye, "Roger Davies was talking this morning about how he was going to have a _nice, long_ shower in the Prefect's bathroom during his free period this morning, _wasn't_ he, Ron?"

Not quite sure why Hermione was suddenly interested in the showering habits of other students, Ron decided to go along with her and nodded vigorously, one had still clamped over his injured eye.

"Well, I'm sure that if anyone really wanted to talk to me, they'd be able to find me," said Myrtle, distractedly. "Anyway, there's something I have to go do now …" And with this, Myrtle dove into the nearest toilet and disappeared from sight.

"Well," said Hermione, looking rather pleased with herself, "That takes care of _that_ problem. Now …" she trailed off as she sat back down on the floor and tried to find where she left off reading.

"Hermione?" asked Ron, "Did you really hear Roger Davies say that he was going to take a shower in first period?" he asked, still wondering why his girlfriend would be interested.

"No, of course not," she replied. "I just told Myrtle he was showering in first period so that she would … Ron!"

"What?" Ron yelled, jumping around again to see if Myrtle had burst through the wall a second time.

"First period!"

"Huh?"

"Charms! Ron we're meant to be in Charms now! I forgot all about it! Oh, Ron we're going to be in so much trouble! How could I have been so _stupid_! I've never missed a class before! What are we going to do?"

"Hermione _stop_!" Ron yelled, effectively ending Hermione's frantic babbling. "We'll just have to go to Charms and tell Professor Flitwick that we were sick or something. I'll tell him that you were feeling faint, and I had to go with you to the hospital wing in case you passed out on the way there. Stop flapping your hands like that."

Hermione lowered her hands to her sides and took a few deep breaths. Ron thought he heard her mutter something about being 'a very calm person'.

"Ok. Right. Good," she said. "Good plan, Ron."

Ron beamed.

oooooooo

A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione entered the Charms classroom to find their classmates practising Glamours – charms which allowed them to temporarily change aspects of their appearance. It appeared that Neville had messed up rather badly, as he was currently sporting a life-sized elephant's trunk where his nose had one been. Hermione and Ron both gaped as they watched Neville's new appendage trying to eat the leaves off of one of the pot plants placed on a windowsill, and then broke into hysterical laughter like the other students.

As Professor Flitwick was currently trying to make Neville's apparently out-of-control trunk stay still for long enough to restore it to it's original form, Ron and Hermione were able to slip in unnoticed and pretend that they had been there from the beginning of the lesson. They quickly found Harry, who had managed so far to both vanish his scar, and turn his hair a brilliant shade of blue.

"Where have you two been?" he asked, sceptically. "The lesson's almost over."

"We, um," said Ron.

"We had to go to the hospital wing," said Hermione quickly. "I wasn't feeling well, so Ron came with me. We couldn't find you in the hall to tell you," she lied, convincingly.

"Oh, really?" said Harry in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone. He decided not to ask questions.

oooooooo

A thoughtful silence had settled over the trio that night as they sat in the common room doing that day's homework. All three of them had rather a lot on their minds, and none particularly wanted to talk.

Although Harry was not game to ask, he did not quite believe the story Hermione had told him about why she and Ron were late for Charms that morning. He also hoped that neither of them would notice the furtive glances he was shooting at the pretty redhead over the other side of the room.

Hermione was trying very hard to finish her Potions essay on the magical properties of Doxy venom, but she could not concentrate for more than a few minutes, as her mind kept drifting back to the potion currently brewing in Myrtle's bathroom, and how they were going to use it to get revenge on Snape in their next Potions lesson.

This subject was bothering Ron too, who had long since given up all pretence of doing homework and was now lounging in an armchair in front of the fireplace, dozing lightly. The redhead was far more troubled by the fact that he was keeping something very important from his best friend. That, and the fact that keeping his relationship with Hermione secret seriously cut into the time when they could be snogging.

Ron and Hermione had never actually discussed keeping their relationship a secret, he thought. It had just sort of … _happened_ that way.

As he was pondering this thought, Hermione yawned and stood up.

"Well, I'm off to bed," she announced. "Night, Harry; night, Ron."

Hermione gathered her books into her arms, stood and started towards the stairs. She stiffened when she reached Ron's chair and stopped, turned, and leaned down to peck him quickly on the mouth, then straightened and hurried out of the room without looking back. Ron could feel his ears heating up as he resumed work on his parchment, avoiding Harry's eye. He knew the exact expression his friend was wearing as he tried in vain to look like Hermione kissing him was nothing out of the ordinary. After a few moments of expectant silence, he glanced up.

"What?" he said, irritably.

"I didn't say anything," said Harry, one eyebrow arched while he smirked at Ron.

"Well, quit staring, will you? It's rude." Ron said gruffly. Harry continued to smirk for a moment before going back to his homework.

"We knew there was something different between you two, you know," said Harry.

"Who's we?" asked Ron.

"Me and Ginny," Harry answered simply.

"Uhuh, and what else have the two of you been doing behind our backs besides discussing our private lives?" Now it was Ron's turn to raise an eyebrow at Harry. "And did these discussions include anyone else, or was it just the two of you?"

"I don't know what you're suggesting, but-"

"-Harry," Ron cut in, "you're blushing."

"You're blushing too!" Harry retorted.

"I'm blushing because my girlfriend just kissed me in the common room and my friend's being a git about it. Why are you blushing?"

"Uh, well, that is to say, err … me and … me and Ginny …" Harry spluttered.

"You're dating my sister." Ron said. It was a simple statement, which Harry could either confirm or deny. Instead, he went with what he thought was his best judgement and cowered back in his chair, screwing his eyes shut and sticking both of his hands and one foot out in front of himself, waiting for Ron to react. The redhead raised his eyebrows at his friend and smiled bemusedly before returning his attention to the parchment in his lap. After a few seconds, Harry opened one eye, then the other, and then relaxed in his seat, looking decidedly confused and just a little relieved.

Feeling his friend's eyes on him again, Ron tried not to smile when he looked up casually and asked "Now what?"

"You're … you're ok with that? Me and your sister, I mean?" Harry asked.

"Don't think you're so clever," said Ron, "I might be dense at times, but I've had my suspicions about you two for a while. Besides," he added, almost as an afterthought, "Hermione caught you two in a broom closet one time after breakfast." Harry's flush deepened, so that he now rather resembled his uncle Vernon after one too many glasses of wine.

Harry's mouth opened and closed a few times before he decided on his reply.

"Oh," he said. "So, you and Hermione?" he asked after a few minutes of thoughtful silence in which Harry looked rather uncomfortable and Ron snorted loudly at his normally brave friend's uncharacteristic behaviour. "How long has it been?"

Ron thought about this for a moment and smiled to himself. "Since the other night in detention," he said, his ears turning slightly pink again at the memory of that night's events. He looked up at Harry and smiled again, slightly embarrassed. Harry looked at his friend for a minute and understood. He knew that whatever Ron felt for Hermione, it was the same thing he felt for Ginny. "How about you and Ginny?" Ron asked. "How long have you two been … _together_?"

"Ah, the same night, actually," Harry said, looking away and shifting in his seat as he rubbed the back of his neck. He always fidgeted when he was nervous, and talking to his best friend about dating said best friend's baby sister was definitely right up there on Harry's list of things that made him nervous.

"Heh; figures," Ron chuckled. "That me and Hermione are stuck in detention, and here you are off snogging my sister."

Harry grimaced. _It could be worse_, he told himself. _He hasn't started shouting yet, and he says he's okay with us … _dating_. He's probably just giving me crap because he knows I'm scared of him when he's mad at me. Prat._

"We were waiting up for you," Harry said in his defence. Ron raised both eyebrows. "It's not my fault you two took so bloody long! Wait a minute … what _were_ you doing up so late? Isn't there a rule that detentions can't go later than 11:30?"

Ron blushed again, knowing that he was trapped. He also glared at Harry for regaining the upper hand in their conversation. The overall effect of this was that Harry was now raising his eyebrows expectantly at what looked like a rather angry tomato.

"We went to the kitchens. Hermione was hungry," he said, gruffly. "We came back here first, but as soon as she opened the portrait she decided that she didn't want to go to bed, so we went to the kitchens."

Something suddenly clicked in Harry's brain, and he quickly made sure he was smirking like a prat, as befitted the conversation, and thought over what had happened. Hermione and Ron _had_, indeed, come back to the common room. He remembered that he had been woken up by Hermione slamming the portrait, and also that he was eternally grateful to her for not letting Ron see he and Ginny curled up together on the couch. As well as Ron was taking things now, Harry doubted that he would have reacted quite as coolly had he caught them that night. Harry wondered for a moment what Hermione must have done to convince Ron not to rip him to shreds, but realized quickly that he'd rather not know. He had to suppress a shudder as thoughts of Ron and Hermione doing some of the things he and Ginny had done since they had started dating sprang, unbidden, into his mind. He looked back at Ron and smirked one last time, for good measure, before returning his gaze to the parchment he had been working on.

There was a lengthy pause before Ron spoke again.

"Yeah, well, just because you're my best mate, don't think you can-"

"-Ron, look at me," said Harry, seriously. "You've known me for five years, so I hope you can believe me when I say I would never do anything to ever hurt Ginny. I really like her, and I think we could be really happy together, if you'll let us," he said, slowly and evenly, his green eyes not faltering once as he looked into Ron's blue ones. His face softened as he added, "We already are."

Ron held his gaze for a few more seconds, and he could tell Harry meant every word he had said. Nevertheless, he still felt the need to do the big brother thing properly.

"I know, mate. Just remember: she's still, and always will be, my baby sister. And if you do hurt her, they'll be burying what's left of you in a matchbox."

_Ouch,_ thought Harry as he pondered this for a second.

Lucky he had meant what he said.

oooooooo

AN: You know what to do…


End file.
